Lab coats
All incoming year 1 undergraduate students will be conducting lab work and will require a lab coat. In order to ensure you have the correctly sized lab coat please complete the form below with the size you require.
You will need a measuring tape and we advise you wear a jumper or hoodie to calculate which size you need.
Reading lists
Below are some reading suggestions from our academics that might be of interest to you over the summer.
Contents
Student guide to digital learning (highly useful)
Biology, Genetics and Zoology
To read:
- ‘Jurassic Park’ by Michael Crichton (Note: A great introduction to molecular biology, behaviour and chaos theory)
- ‘The Selfish Gene’ by Richard Dawkins
- ‘The Extended Phenotype’ by Richard Dawkins
- ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson
- ‘Superior: The Return of Race Science’ by Angela Saini (Note: Covers more genetics but does influence how we conduct our research and is current)
To listen:
Other resources for biology:
To read:
- ‘Bad Science’ by Ben Goldacre
- Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (free with an Audible Trial)
- ‘How to Make the World Add Up’ by Tim Hartford
- ‘The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark’ by Carl Sagan. (Note: Style of writing is always good to keep people sharp.)
- Alice Roberts: The Incredible Unlikeliness of Being: Evolution and the Making of Us
To watch:
Three TED talks on cell biology and biochemistry
Other resources:
The free site from the Biochemical Society has several short guides to topics in biochemistry.
Foundation Science
Foundation students and new undergraduates should familiarise themselves with the work of the Learning Scientists.
Their website has some great videos, posters and blogs which look at what it means to be an effective learner.
To watch:
To read:
- ‘The psychology of effective studying: How to succeed in your degree’ by Paul Penn
- ‘Be well, learn well: Improve your wellbeing and academic performance’ by Gareth Hughes
To read:
- 'The man who mistook his wife for a hat’ by Oliver Sacks
- ‘Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind’ by Sandra Blakeslee and V. S. Ramachandra
To watch:
- My Beautiful Broken Brain – on Netflix
- Pain, Pus and Poison (3-part documentary) on BBC iPlayer. (Note: It discusses the discovery of morphine and other pain killers in the first episode)
- Secrets of Skin Episode 6 on BBC iPlayer. (Note: Episode 6 is all about sensory perception)
Other resources:
Pharmacology
To Read:
- ‘Pharmacology’ by Rang et al. (Available in paper and ebook format from the university libraries)
Recommended textbooks for year one (all of these are available in the university libraries, so it is not necessary to purchase them):
- ‘Neuroscience: Exploring the brain’ by Mark Bear et al.
- ‘Human Physiology’ by Lauralee Sherwood
- ‘Essential Cell Biology’ by Bruce Alberts
- ‘Biochemistry’ by Hames & Hooper
Sport & Exercise Science
To read:
A full list can be found here
To watch:
‘Welcome to Nottingham – Our Caring City’
‘Archaea and the Tree of Life’